A Mile A Day

Where's MIke (Read 335 times)

Every once in a while I jump on here and Mike Burlingame's name has disappeared off Streak table. I am guessing he is like me and sometimes doesnt log his runs for a few days. Just weird when I see it being me and then Ojo - which is another reason I love the STREAK chart Eric made us because I can look at the "longest" tab and see everybody out there even if they dont have a current streak going.

As most of the long timers know, I am of the weird streaker's breed...one that doesn't actually like to run! ;-) This is probably realized in my total miles which is a bit embarrassing, though it is at least 1 mile a day!

Where have I been? I picked up a cheap treadmill over this last fall and have utilized this for the cold and snowy winter that we have had thus far in Kansas City. As you all know, running on the treadmill sucks and for me it's grueling to stay motivated for more than a mile. Also, I get complacent logging my mere mile everyday because that in itself sucks! So, I sometimes have gaps in my logging.

I have two other issues that contribute to my lackluster running. Plantar fasciitis in my right foot has been troubling me for about 6 months. This injury/ailment is driving me crazy. I've tried, and continue to try, all of the exercises to no avail. The foot doctor just shakes his head when I tell him that I WILL BE RUNNING A MILE EVERYDAY. Of course he wants me to rest it.

Second problem, I'm fat. I've put on about thirty pounds over the last year which has ultimately impeded my running. I kept getting frustrated that the effort it took to run 1-2-3 miles at "regular" speed seemed like it was double what it used to be. My typical times over the last year range from 10.5 to 11.5/mpm. Then I figured out that if I threw a 20-30 lb sand bag on my shoulder and tried to run that I would face similar results as I am now.

I've been on a pretty strict diet for about 3 weeks dropping around 14 lbs. so far. The weight loss, which was rapid for the 1.5 weeks is slowing a bit but is still positive. The remarkable thing of it all is that I think I'm gaining my running legs again. As the weight is coming off I'm able to comfortably run 10 min/miles and even knocked off an outdoor 5K last Saturday morning. That felt great!

Let me tell you about Saturday's run. It was beautiful out and around 25 degrees, snow on the ground with the streets mostly clear. I had already made up my mind that it was going to be at least a 2 mile run. I got to around 3/4 mile and could not believe how great I felt and how much I was enjoying running outside again. So, I took a detour from my normal route with the thought of "stretching this one out a bit". I looked at my Garmin (which I rarely do mid-run) at around 2.25 miles and saw that I was at a 10:15/mile pace. Damn. Surely I can run a 10 minute mile (?). So, I kicked it in for the last portion of the run and ended at 9:53/mile. That made me pretty happy. I can't believe this, but I paid for it! My legs were sore yesterday AND still today!! I run every frickin day...how can my legs be this sore!?!

Anyway, I am still here...sorry Ojo! ;-) I am hopeful that my weight loss and motivation continue. I am also hopeful that my PF subsides. Sorry for the book...I just wanted to catch everyone up!

Mike - I don't think a doctor will tell you this, but I got rid of PF by pretty much walking around tip-toe when I was barefoot and wearing rather cushioned running shoes to work/walk in for a couple of months. Seriously. I put no pressure on the heel at all as best as I could and looked like an idiot. When I could get away with it, I tried to keep all of my weight on the forefoot even when just walking to the copy machine. And whenever I was seated, I had the foot raised.

It's not the orthodoxy, but after a couple of months of the above stuff, I added in some calf raises (no weight) and other balance/ankle exercises which I think strengthened my feet and ankles enough to where they started taking the brunt of the punishment that my Plantar Fascia were taking before.

Best of luck with the PF.

2014 Goal -- Run 5X per week, pain-free (relatively) by end of summer.

My running posts also show up on facebook. If I've only run one mile, I feel irrationally embarassed, so I'll wait a day or two and update more than one run, hoping the one mile gets lost in the multiple posts.

All that to say congrats on the weightloss, Mike. And I hope the PF gets better soon.

My running posts also show up on facebook. If I've only run one mile, I feel irrationally embarassed, so I'll wait a day or two and update more than one run, hoping the one mile gets lost in the multiple posts.

All that to say congrats on the weightloss, Mike. And I hope the PF gets better soon.

My running posts show up on Facebook too. Never be embarassed about only running a mile because in most cases, that is a mile more than the people that are reading that post have run.

I recently took my RA posts off of FB not because I was embarrassed but because I was getting negative comments about running on snowy and icy roads. Several people have told me that they miss following my running so maybe in the spring I will start again.

And I agree with Jeff -- you should never be embarrassed about 1 mile because getting out there every day is more than most people do!